1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of computer operations and, more particularly to common memory orphan storage release.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to control storage systems using powerful host computer systems such as mainframe type computer systems. These host systems execute operating systems such as the z/OS operating system available from IBM. The z/OS operating system is well suited for continuation, high volume operation with high security and stability.
One issue encountered on operating systems such as the z/OS operating system relates to common (i.e., shared) storage region of memory. More specifically, when executing programs within the z/OS operating system, it is possible that storage obtained within the common storage region memory may be inadvertently left allocated without being freed. With this condition, the storage remains orphaned until the system is reinitialized, via e.g., an initial program load (IPL). Unlike private storage, storage obtained by a program in the common region of memory can be used by multiple address spaces and is not automatically freed when the program that obtained the memory ends execution. This orphaned storage can add up over time and can eventually cause the system to abnormally terminate (often referred to as an ABEND) due to the system no longer having available common memory storage.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a mechanism that identities orphan storage and releases the orphaned storage before application or system outages result.